A July 2026 survey of 1,861 consumers across all 27 European Union countries suggests Elon Musk is a larger reputational liability for Tesla than BYD’s links to the Chinese state are for the Chinese automaker. The Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report found that 39% of respondents said Musk negatively affected their perception of Tesla, while 13% said his involvement improved their view of the brand and 35% said he made no difference.
The survey indicates that Musk’s political activity had an even stronger effect than his name alone. When respondents were reminded of his donations and support for Donald Trump, Musk’s net favorability fell from minus 31 to minus 47. Tesla’s brand favorability moved to minus 42, while purchase likelihood fell to minus 40. According to the report, that was the single most damaging finding for Tesla in the survey.
Musk’s image was negative across every major EU market cited in the report. His favorability ranged from minus 17 in Poland to minus 48 in the Netherlands, while Germany recorded minus 42 and France minus 41. Across the survey overall, 58% of participants held an unfavorable view of Musk, compared with 27% who viewed him positively.
BYD also faced negative sentiment over its links to the Chinese government, but the effect was smaller. One quarter of respondents said those ties made them less favorable toward BYD, while 12% said the links improved their opinion of the brand. That produced a net score of minus 13, which the report described as half the penalty associated with Musk’s name.
The findings complicate the idea that concern over Chinese state influence is necessarily the largest reputational obstacle for brands such as BYD in Europe. The survey still showed that the issue matters to consumers, but the measured impact was lower than the effect associated with Musk’s leadership and political ties. At the same time, the report noted that views of Chinese-made vehicles remain varied rather than uniformly negative.
The survey’s reputational findings also sit alongside mixed sales data for Tesla in Europe. Reuters data cited in the source said Tesla registrations were rebounding after an earlier decline, with incentives, higher fuel prices and easier year-over-year comparisons among the factors helping the recovery. July registrations rose 86% year over year in France and 52% in Denmark, but fell 97% in Norway, 81% in Spain, 77% in Italy, 69% in Portugal and 60% in Sweden. The source also noted that Tesla’s focus on markets with stronger incentives may partly explain those swings and that Musk’s specific effect on monthly sales is difficult to quantify.
BYD remains less widely recognized across Europe than Tesla, despite its expansion. When respondents were asked to choose between similarly priced vehicles from the two brands, 29% selected Tesla and 27% chose BYD. Among consumers considering an EV, however, BYD led Tesla by 40% to 36%. The survey therefore shows that, despite continuing concerns over Chinese government ties, BYD is now close to Tesla in stated purchase preference among European respondents and ahead within the group already considering an electric vehicle.
